In The Club by Patricia
Cornelius.
Directed by Geordie Brookman.Associate director Suzannah Kennet Lister. Set and Lighting Design Geoff Cobham and Chris Petridis. Composer Gazelle Twin. Sound Designer Andrew Howard. State Theatre of South Australia. Odeon Theatre. Adelaide Festival. Febuary 28 – March 18 2018
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Rachel Burke as Olivia in In The Club. Photo: james Hartley |
The quotes leap from the pages of
the programme. More than merely sexist, they are vile, bullying and viciously
cruel. Eddie Maguire derides and denigrates Caroline Wilson. Alan Jones
suggests hurling Julia Gillard into the sea in a chaff bag and Quentin Tarantino
bandies semantics to deny use of the term rape to describe sex with a thirteen
year old girl. It is the culture of male sexual power, the invidious
exploitation of women for the sexual gratification of the male.
In her play, commissioned by the
State Theatre of South Australia for its Adelaide Festival production, playwright
Patricia Cornelius explores the sexual misconduct, recently exposed in the
media. In an attempt to avoid the clichés and predictable scenarios, Cornelius
examines the cultre of sexual exploitation from the perspective of three females.
Impressionable and naïve Annie (Miranda Daughtrey) became embroiled in the
testosteronic world of male sexuality at the age of sixteen and had sex with
footballer Sean (Dale March). Olivia looked for love with Angus (Rashidi
Edward) only to be exploited and humiliated by his football mates. Even Ruby (Anna Steen),wild and independent
and out for a good time learns that she too is ultimately powerless under the influence
of James (Nathan O’Keefe). Sean and James epitomize the macho, narcissistic,
arrogant nature of the sporting hero. Angus, though more sensitive, is
compelled to conform to the powerful influence of the club and his teammates.
There is no victory for the victim. “We are invincible” Sean screams in Annie’s
face when she sends photos to the internet, media, family and the club. The
women may eventually wreak a shallow revenge upon their abusers, but it is at
the price of their own self esteem and Cornelius’s play provides no comfort for
those seeking a resolution. Cornelius aims to avoid the predictable but the cliché
persists. The struggle continues, and even though her characters come to a
realization of the consequence of their actions, there is little hope that the
culture will change
As a result, I found the play
unsatisfying. This is not the fault of the actors. They work hard under Geordie
Brookman’s direction. Nor is it the fault of the production team and Geoff Cobham
and Chris Petridis waterscape design with a challenging flooded stage for actors to
traverse. Gazelle Twin’s composition struck the right note. Rather the fault
may lie with the structure of the play, a series of monologues, interspersed
with brief interchanges between the characters. In The Club is community theatre, driven more by the issue than the
drama. Perhaps I was not meant to feel empathy for the characters, but simply,
in a Brechtian sense, sit in judgement of the words and actions of the
characters.
As community theatre, In The Club has the potential to encourage
debate, raise issues and discuss possible solutions in an open forum and play
an important role in giving a voice to women, who, in the main remain at the
mercy of the club culture.
As an Adelaide Festival showcase work, In The Club is not entirely up to the mark.